Addison's 9 year old interview

I'm so glad that I copied the interview idea from Krista! A few nights ago, we were reading old interviews and both kids just loved them. Addison, you especially loved hearing what you had to say. And I love that! You should always remember that what you have to say is important, no matter how old you are. Your perspective of the world is uniquely yours and sharing that will most definitely help someone else. It will be hard though because people won't always listen...sometimes the ones who need to listen the most won't. But Addison, I pray you never stop talking. Your thoughts and ideas need to be known, no matter if you are 9, 13 (you wish) or 65.

How old are you?

     Nine. No, I'm not nine, I'm 13.  

What’s the best thing about being nine?

     Staying up longer. 

What’s the worst thing about being nine?
      Being old. I want to be young again.

What makes you happy?

      Zoey.

What is your favorite color?
     Blue.

What is your favorite thing to do at home?

     Sit down and watch TV. Playing with Carly. Sitting with my mom. (She also loves anything creative. She sings all the time and loves to make movies, dances, paint and color.)

What is your favorite thing to do at school?
     Play with Izzy, Brazilia, Jasmine, Avyna, Kitty, Jayla and Zoey. We like to play volleyball, dead woman, vampires, babies. And that's it.

What is your least favorite thing to do at school?

      Read. I just can't read it. The words just go up or down, side to side, or just whatever. (We are working on this. She can read, and read well when she slows down. But we continue to work with her and the school so reading becomes a positive for her.)

What’s your favorite activity/sport?

      Volleyball, dance and tumbling. (She is super excited to audition for the dance company team this summer.)

What’s your favorite animal?
      Lemurs, dogs and kittens. That's it. (She's pushing for a chinchilla or ferret now.)

What’s your favorite holiday?
      Christmas.

What do you like about Christmas?

      It's fun. I like the family and presents. (I expected her to also add there was no school.)

What's your favorite season?
       Summer/Fall...August, when we start school. I like to go back to school and see friends. (It was at this point she told me she wants to stay at the school she is at now. She has her teacher picked out for next year and is excited to be with her friends. This was HUGE.)

What’s your favorite food?

      Spaghetti (also pancakes with Nutella, mac and cheese, and anything chocolate.)

What’s your favorite tv show?
      Little Big Shots, Grey's Anatomy, Chicago Med, Scorpion, Pure Genius. (Best thing about all of these is we watch them together!)

    

What’s your favorite movie?
      The BFG!

What’s your favorite song?

     Fight Song by Rachel________

What’s your favorite book?
      Roller Girl

Who is your best friend?
       Carly, Brazilia, Izzy, Jasmine, Kitty, Jayla, Avyna and Zoey

What do you want to be when you grow up?
       I want to be a cheerleader. 

What problem do you want to help solve in the world?
       I want to help solve the problem of cancer.

Any last thoughts to remember when you are older?

     I love my parents, my brother, my family and dogs, my best friends. Ok, that's it.

Addie, you have a heart that is full and a mind that is bright. I pray you continue to keep your chin up in all things as you navigate being 9. Friends may change as you grow, but always remember that it's not the amount of friends that matters. Having one or two close friends who are truly there no matter what can mean more than being surrounded by lots of fair weather friends. If you can embrace this now, teen years may be a little easier. And above all Addie, reach for the stars!!!

(I just downloaded the blogger app, so this is posted from there. I will be curious to see what it really looks like....there may be some edits that take place.)

Spot the Characters

A highlight of Disney is definitely seeing the characters. But wow! It didn't dawn on us that there are lines for them too. Thankfully Samantha helped with that also!!!! But really, the debate is on....can you spot the real characters in the pictures??

Stitch was the all time favorite! We saw a few princesses also....I need to go back and find those pictures!

Dizzy Disney 2

As the day wore on, Addie was definitely pushing. Her poor cough kept hacking despite her inhaler, cough drops and medicine. But she kept going. She loved the Merry Go Round. (Personally, I really don't understand the fun in going up and down while moving in a circle...)

We bumped into Pinnochio and a penguin a while later which was cute. There was a "marching band" walking around which also provided for some entertainment.

Both kids were excited to go on the Dumbo ride, which again was the up and down, circle thing. 

Addie just wanted to drive with Samantha. She was enjoying having her own person for the day.

After Dumbo, we went over to It's a Small World, which is still one of my most favorite rides. Both kids definitely showed their "excitement" for the ride. LOL!

We got to sneak in some character sightings throughout the day. And those pics are all together. I cracked up when they saw Darth Vader though. He was very tall and definitely loomed over everyone. At one point he said "stay." Both kids froze and stopped and did not move. Maybe I need to walk around in a Darth Vader costume.

The astro blaster ride was a pretty fun one. 

We finished the day with more circles and round about rides. Finally ending with Big Thunder Rail Road, which was declared everyones favorite ride.

We had dinner at the Blue Bayou inside Pirates of the Caribbean. Super cool, and really good restaurant. Only wish was that the Pirates ride had been open and not closed for renovations.

We had reserved seats for the Parade later that night, but everyone was definitely fading and fast. Dave was smart and asked the best way to get back to the hotel at night because the trams closed down during the parade. They recommended walking. We both knew there was NO WAY we would make it back without many meltdowns by walking so we all opted to head back to the hotel about 7:30pm.

After a not so decent night's sleep (think coughing and more coughing), we were excited to finish Addie's birthday celebration with a character breakfast!

We got home later in the day and couldn't get Addie into the doctor until the next day. She had bronchitis and ended up being out a dew more days before she got to head back to school. Argh!!! But she sure had fun, and loved snuggling with her life-size Stitch stuffed animal.

Dizzy Disney!

In mid-February, we celebrated Addie's birthday with her "party." Addison wanted to go to Disneyland, and has been talking about going for some time now (years maybe). Leading up to her weekend, she was home sick. But after much discussion, we plowed ahead. There was no way we were going to be the ones who ruined her birthday. Instead, we were definitely the ones who had the hacking kiddo. We left Saturday morning because we had a three day weekend that weekend. We got to the Disney resorts and headed over to Downtown Disney to see a movie and grab some Mexican food. We saw "A Dog's Purpose." We all were in tears. Talk about an awesome movie, especially if you LOVE dogs. After dinner, we headed over to the Mexican restaurant in downtown. We loved it....even Addie who isn't your Mexican food fan typically. 

The next morning, it was Disney time. Were we ready????

We rode the tram over to the park from Downtown which was only a short walk from the hotel. Our first stop was Tomorrowland, where we drove the Utopia cars. 

By this time, Disney is already a hit. With everyone. Addie is hanging on (and honestly was hanging on the whole trip....we should have stayed home), but loving every minute of it even if her smiles were a little straight.

After Utopia, we went on these blasters that went around and around, and up and down. Definitely not the adult favorite, but the kiddos enjoyed!

So Dave had a surprise for the kids. Since it has been YEARS since Dave and I have done Disney, and we know our kiddos (one in particular), there are things about Disney that made our hairs go up on our necks. Due to this, and because Universal went so well, Dave got the kids the tour for Disney also. This will never happen again, but I am honestly so glad that he did because they had a blast. So while we were waiting to meet our guide we did some fortune telling and magic tricks.

We met Samantha after that, and she was probably Addie's favorite birthday present EVER. Addie got to "call" the shots. Sam knew all about Addie already and that just made Addison's day. 

Our first ride with Sam was in Adventureland and was the Jungle Safari (or something like that). Everyone loved it and it was the perfect one to start out with.

After the jungle safari, we headed to the Winnie the Pooh ride. Which was nice and relaxing for Dave and I. Jackson and Addison would have been ok without it. 

Addie was still not 100% sure about roller coasters, but we got in line for Big Thunder Railroad. By the end she loved it. Jackson was all smiles the whole time.